The Game
by vampboy
Summary: ++REVISED++. Harry , Ron and Hermione are living At number twelve Grimauld place. One night a visitor shows up and then everything begins. ***Major book five spoilers****
1. The Game

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to him. If I did, I would have a small island fortress in the South Seas and an army ready to take over the world. I don't.  At least that's what the government thinks…

Chapter One:

The Game

Harry James Potter sat in a rather comfortable wing chair on the first floor of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

It was a dark, stormy night, but that was fine. It was just a common summer storm in England. Light rain and a few bits of lightning weren't anything worth panicking over. He, Ron, and Hermione had been living at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place since they had graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lupin had stayed there as caretaker of the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix for some time now. Harry had of course let him stay even though there was now precious little for the Order to do. Ginny was there for the summer. He and Ginny had started dating in his last year at Hogwarts and had continued a romance since. Ron seemed to have a problem with Harry sharing a room with his baby sister, so Ginny slept in the room down the hall from him. She kept complaining that his bed was more comfortable than hers was.

Harry leaned back to take a sip of his tea. He was thoroughly relaxed living in his Godfather's home. Apparently Sirius had left the home to him, and the money in his Gringotts account to Remus. His Godfather had been the closest thing he had to a father, and he missed him immensely, especially with his birthday so close. Only a week until he turned 20. Harry was amazed he had lived this long at all. What with the chaotic mess his childhood had been, it was semi-shocking he didn't spend all his time in a corner gibbering about purple squirrels and stuff.

Suddenly his thoughts were rudely interrupted by a knock at the door.

***

The young man kept glancing at some weird note Dumbledore had given him to memorize, and now he was standing on some weird street, here in front of some weird house that had popped out of nowhere, and had a weird broken doorbell to boot. His day was weird. His mom was right. He shouldn't have even come looking for stuff about his father, but something had compelled him to come to his native country.

He had never seen his father, and the first news he heard of him was the letter from Dumbledore telling him that his father had died protecting his godson. It also explained how he had been innocent of whatever charges had been brought against him. He'd been fourteen at the time. He was nineteen now.

He reached up and knocked again.

A young man with rather mussed hair, green eyes, and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead answered the door. He stared in shock for a moment and promptly passed out.

"Great even more weirdness," the young man muttered, stooping over the other to check his pulse.

***

Hermione Granger came down the stairs, and as she skipped the last step like she always did, she noticed something odd.

Harry was lying on the ground apparently unconscious. A young man with long black hair was crouched over him, either checking his pulse or stealing his wallet.

"Don't move," Hermione snarled as she drew her wand and aimed it at the boy. She had been taught to always be ready for battle at Hogwarts. "Stand up slowly."

"Which is it?" the figure asked, still crouched over Harry.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, you first told me, 'Don't move.' And now it's, 'Stand up slowly.' Which is it?" The young man was being pretty reasonable for someone who had attacked Harry moments before. Most of Harry's attackers were pretty delusional.

"Stand up," Hermione told him.

"Oh. Good. I love women who take charge." He stood up to his full height but kept his head down. He was only a couple of inches taller than Hermione. 

"Hands up!" she snapped.

"I didn't attack him," the boy told her. "He just looked at me and passed out."

"I _said _hands up." There was sincerity in his voice, but she would wake up Harry first.

"No, thanks." There was a note of anger in his voice. He popped his head up and looked directly into her eyes. 

"Sirius!" 

"No. I'm James." The young man raised his wand toward Harry. He was left-handed. "_Enervate_," he muttered. "I'm going to find the den."

***

"Who are you?" Harry asked without hesitation as he sat down. 

"I'm James. James Remus Peter Delacour-Black. I hope that's not too much to remember." In the light of the den, Hermione could see that his eyes weren't the same as Sirius'. They were much brighter, and there was no deadened look of an ex-Azkaban prisoner. He also had an ear piercing, a blood red stone from the look of it.

"Black?" Harry asked. 

"You're Sirius's son," Hermione said.

"Yeah. I'm his son. And who are the two of you?"

"I'm Harry Potter. This is Hermione Granger." He was silent for a second. " I really have no clue what to say."

"That's fine. Neither do I." James reached into his coat and pulled out an envelope stamped with the Hogwarts crest. "Dumbledore said to give this to you." He handed Harry the letter. 

He opened it immediately and scanned it once. "Okay. I guess we have a lot to discuss. Would you like some tea?" Harry asked a bit awestruck.

"Against my religion," the boy said quickly.

"What?" Harry asked, positive he had misheard him

"No, thanks," James told him.

"Okay. Hermione could you leave us alone for a while?" Harry asked. He seemed really nervous about something.

"Okay." She didn't want to be kicked out, but she didn't want to intrude on what was obviously a private matter.

"Thanks." Harry began reading the letter again.

"It was nice meeting you," James said, standing and opening the door for her. "I hope the next time we meet, it will be under better circumstances."

"Me too." She swept out of the room.

"She's cute." James turned to Harry. "Is she single?"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hermione looked into the den. It was around eight-thirty in the morning, and both James and Harry were asleep. James was asleep on the couch and Harry on the love seat. A bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky between them on the coffee table. Luckily it was still more than half full, so she wouldn't get thrown up on if she woke them up. Hermione couldn't stand dealing with drunks. She went over to the table and re-capped the bottle of firewhisky. She looked between Harry and the letter in his hand. She resisted the urge to read it and instead took off his glasses. She set them on the coffee table. 

She looked at Sirius's son. He was actually kind of cute. He looked like a troublemaker. She peered at him. He looked very similar to Sirius, but his nose was smaller and his lips were fuller. The resemblance was still rather shocking. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, his were too.

"Hi." He sat up.

"Good morning," she answered, preoccupying herself with the bottle of whisky. She made as though she had to go to the kitchen. He followed.

"Can I help with breakfast?" he asked, surprising Hermione.

"Normally we just have leftovers. No one can really cook around here," she had tried to get people to start cooking regularly, but the only one who thought that was a good idea was Tonks, who only dropped in to visit Remus.

"I can," he said cockily.

"Oh, don't trouble yours-," she began, but he cut her off.

"It's fine. How many am I cooking for?" He began opening cupboards randomly until he found a skillet.

"Seven. Including yourself." 

"Thanks." He leaned into the icebox and removed a carton of eggs. 

"Do you need any help?" She wouldn't be much help, but she felt she had to try.

"I got it." He began mixing eggs into a large bowl.

"If you need any help, I'll be over there," she pointed to the large wooden table at the end of the kitchen.

"What time does Remus Lupin wake up?"

"Soon. He's an early riser."

***

"Who's he?" Ron asked groggily, sitting down across from Hermione a few minutes later. Lavender sat beside him, and Hermione was glad she had remembered to add her to the seven James was cooking for. Sometimes she spent the night and sometimes she didn't.

"This is James, Sirius's son." She looked at him. He was filling a bowl with something, and his face was hidden from view.

"Sirius had a son?" Ron shouted, apparently having woken up.

"Don't sound so happy," James said as he levitated a plate of fried ham to the table. Ron stared at his face as he set a bowl of fried eggs next to it. James walked back over to the cooking area and returned with a stack of plates. Now Lavender was staring. "You're making me nervous with all this staring," he added after an awkward silence.

"Sorry," Hermione apologized.

"You're the only one I wouldn't mind," he told her, helping himself to some eggs.

"Come again?" she asked.

James was saved from anwering by Remus's arrival.

***

Remus J. Lupin didn't expect much to happen that day as usual. He was planning on reading a bit and possibly having a relaxing dinner with Tonks, Molly, and Arthur. He did not expect to be sitting at the table was Sirius's double. It took him a full minute to recover from the shock. By then he realized it was James.

After Sirius's death, Dumbledore had told Remus everything. How James's mom was his Secret Keeper and how she had completely refused to let Dumbledore tell Sirius of his own son's whereabouts. He'd been rather shocked that Claudette would believe Sirius was a Death Eater. Then again, he had believed it too. 

James stood up. "Remus Lupin, I presume?" 

"Yes." He looked the boy over. "James Black?"

"Yep," James answered, looking nervous but trying to play it cool.

"I suppose we have a lot to discuss." Remus sat on the other side of Hermione at the table.

"Later. Harry and I stayed up late talking." He didn't really seem tired.

"How long are you staying?" Ron cut into the conversation for the first time.

"I'm not sure," James said thoughtfully. "My mom and I had an argument." 

"Not a bad one I hope?" Lavender leaned forward and peered at him closely.

"Depends on your opinion of a nasty argument." James leaned back.

"What happened?" Remus asked, surprising everyone besides James. Remus wasn't usually interested in sordid family arguments.

"She said I shouldn't come here. I called her a bitch. She said she never wanted to hear me call her that again. I cursed the bitch's ears off," James said, running his hands through his hair. Remus smiled.

"You're just like you're father."

"I'm not that good a man."

"You're father wasn't that great a man either," Remus said. "But he was the best friend I ever had."

"I'd like to hear more about him," James said.

"I'd like to tell you more about him." 

"Coffee?" James asked.

***

James, Remus, and Harry had gone to get some coffee. James had dragged Harry along even though he was still half asleep. They were still out.

Hermione sat down on her bed and started rubbing Crookshanks' head. He purred deeply.

Ginny was unhappy about missing James, but considering they'd been gone for hours now, they should be back soon. She said she wanted to meet Sirius's son. He apparently sounded like an interesting person.

Hermione wondered about him. He was cute and hadn't mentioned a girlfriend. Lavender seemed interested, but she was interested in every guy besides her boyfriend. Ron really deserved better. He should really be asking out Luna. 

Someone knocked at the door. Hermione stood up and walked over to it. "Who is it?" she asked.        

"Bloody Baron," Ginny answered.

"Come in." Hermione opened the door and walked back to her bed.

"They're back." Ginny closed the door behind her and sat down next to Hermione on the bed.

"What did you say to Harry?" Hermione asked. She knew Ginny liked to torture Harry sometimes.

"Nothing at all. I just waved to Remus and checked out James. I'll make it up to him tonight," She had a hint of mischief in her voice. Hermione decided not to ask for details. "You and James would look good together," Ginny said after a second.

"Looking good together has nothing to do with it."

"He's single, _and _he asked me about you," Ginny told Hermione with a coy smile.

Hermione was just about to answer when they heard shouts from downstairs.

***

A\N: I'm sorry I had to restart The Game, but I just couldn't continue. I could hardly believe Rowling killed Sirius. It shocked me speechless. By the way Kreacher WILL show up. Can't assure you of his survival, but he will show up eventually. So will Tonks and a lot more fifth book characters. I plan to make this much better than its predecessor. So it should able to be called "decent" or maybe even "okay" at some point or another. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this, and I hope you review after you read it.

Thanks to Anna Black. A fantastically smart Beta reader who fixed everything I screwed up on.


	2. Girl all the bad guys want

Disclaimer: I'm don't own ANYTHING. Please don't sue me.

Chapter Two:

Girl all the bad guys want.

***

James Remus Peter Delacour-Black stared in shock.

Harry told him not to open the curtain, but he had to anyway. Now he had met his grandmother.

"SPAWN OF THAT ACCURSED TRAITOR!" she screamed.

"Help!" Harry yelled. James rushed forward to the curtains and pushed them closed.

"God what a bitch," James leaned against the wall. "No wonder my dad left home so damn early."

"Wait until you meet Kreacher. He's worse," Harry assured him with more than a hint of venom in his voice.

"Who's Kreacher?" James asked him.

"Black family house elf." Harry looked up the stairs. Hermione and Ginny were standing there looking slightly worried.

"Everything okay?" Ginny asked them.

"Yeah. James met his grandmother."

"Well, we guessed that," Ginny walked down the stairs and put her arms around Harry.

"Real bitch, eh?" James asked Hermione.

"It's just her picture," Hermione told him.

"Pictures are just a reflection," he retorted.

Hermione looked as if she might say something for a second. She opened her mouth then closed it. "Good point." She walked into the kitchen. James followed. She sat down at the big wooden table. James sat across from her. Harry sat next to him. Ginny took her favorite spot on Harry's lap.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked Hermione after a second.          

"I think he went to Lavender and Parvati's or something," She told him a slight hint of disdain in her voice. "Did you enjoy your coffee?"

"We ended up going to Florean's," he told her.

"Good ice-cream," James commented.

"Where'd Remus go?" Ginny asked.

"Out with Tonks," Harry told her.

"Who's Tonks?" James asked, looking at Hermione.

"An Auror that we know," she told him. "She's your cousin, I think. Is that right Harry?"

Harry pulled his lips from Ginny's neck. "Second, I think." 

"Interesting. Is there a family tree around?" James asked.

"Drawing room. Second floor," Harry said.

"Only has Dark wizards on it though," Ginny added with contempt.

"Remus mentioned that the Blacks weren't exactly the nicest wizards. Kinda dark." James seemed to be in deep thought.

"That's understating it," Harry said. "Your uncle was a Death Eater, and your grandparents were proud." 

"What's a Death Eater?" James asked.

"Voldemort's closest supporters," Hermione told him.

"Hmm," James said, looking at the table. "Interesting family."

Everyone was silent for a moment. Well, nearly silent. Harry and Ginny had begun making out again, and that was fairly noisy.

"Really into it," James commented, watching them.

Hermione didn't say anything.

"Are you single?" he asked.

"What?" she asked, slightly shocked at his forwardness.

"No one will give me a straight answer," James put his head down on the table and looked up into her eyes, resembling a lost puppy. "I asked everyone besides you and Ron," he told her.

"What about Lavender?" she asked, evading the question.     

"I'd rather not speak to her. She seems annoying." 

They sat in silence for a minute or two. Harry and Ginny continued kissing.

"So are you?" he asked.

"Am I what?"

"Single?" 

"Single?"

"You know not dating anyone, unmarried and fancy free," he pressed.

"Yes," she told him.

"Yes, you're single, or yes, you're dating someone?" he asked.

"I'm single," she clarified.

"Cool. Wanna go out?" he asked.

"No," she stated bluntly.

"Why not?"

"I hardly know you."

"So get to know me," he smiled.

"Yeah, 'Mione get to know him," Ginny encouraged. 

"Keep kissing and let me make my own decisions," she retorted. "I think I'll go take a shower." She started for the door. James got up and followed her.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"Following you." 

"Why?"

"What better way to get to know someone than to share a shower?" 

***

Fifteen or so minutes later, James was sitting at the table holding an ice pack to the side of his head. She had slapped him rather harder than necessary, and now he was sporting a red handprint on his cheek.

"You didn't expect that to work, did you?" Ginny asked.

"Not particularly. I was just trying to make her laugh. Bad joke, I guess." 

"Very," she told him.

"When should Harry be back?" he asked, wanting to get the subject off of Hermione. Harry had needed to run some sort of errand.

"Soon, I hope." Ginny checked her watch.

"I was gonna make some dinner," James looked at the ceiling.

"It's only two," she told him.

"Yeah, but I wanted him to go to the store with me," he leaned back in his chair until the front legs were off the ground. "There's not much here to work with."

"Hermione will be glad to go," Ginny lied.

"I seriously doubt that."

"No you just need to calm down and not come on so hard," Ginny advised.

"Flowers and candy?" he suggested while leaning back even farther in his chair.

"Something more original," she told him.

"Me covered in chocolate syrup and a thong?" he joked.

"Too messy," Hermione said from the kitchen door. "Are you okay?" James had jumped, causing him to lose balance in his chair and fall to the floor.

"Peachy," he answered.

"I'm sorry I hit you. You were only joking, and I overreacted." 

"No problem. It's nothing compared to my back anyway," he told her.

"What's wrong with your back?"

"It hit the floor real hard," he explained.

"Can you stand up?" she asked him.

"Yeah, just a minute." 

"I think I'll go get a quick shower or something," Ginny left.

"Are you sure you're fine?" Hermione asked after a minute or two.

"Just great." He got up off the floor and returned his chair to normal.

"I'm sorry," said Hermione.        

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have leaned so far back." James sat down in the chair again despite his back's protests.

"That's not what I mean. I'm sorry that I just refused to go out with you point-blank," Hermione elaborated.

"That's fine," he told her. "So do you want to go out with me?" 

"I'll think about it," she walked over to the icebox and got two cold bottles of Butterbeer.

"Okay." 

"How long are you planning on staying in Britain, or are you still undecided?" 

"Not sure. I was thinking of going to France. I have some cousins there," he told her.

"The Delacours?" she asked.

"Yep," he answered.

"Do you know Fleur?" she asked.

"Yeah I met her at some funeral or something when I was sixteen," he admitted. "Doesn't she live around here?"

"Just a couple of blocks that way near Gringotts. She and her husband are curse-breakers, but they're out of town right now. In Egypt again," she informed him.

"Egypt? Cool." He leaned back in his chair again.

"You're going to get hurt again," she warned.

"Is that a threat or a prediction?" he teased.

"Prediction," she told him.

"I'll take the risk," he said and leaned back a bit farther.

"Are you a risk taker?"

"Depends on my blood alcohol level."

"And what _is_ your normal blood alcohol level?"

"It has its highs and lows," he dodged the question. "Do you drink much?"             

"Not really," she answered taking a sip of her Butterbeer.

"Smoke, abuse boyfriends, take drugs, eat cookies in bed?"

"No, no, BIG no, and yes." She ticked the answers off her fingers.

"Evil person," he smiled at her.

"For what! Cookies in bed?" she asked indignantly.

"Yeah. Crumbs drive me insane." He downed the last of his butterbeer then began peeling off the label.

"What are your bad habits?"

"I'm cocky, and I'm pretty rebellious." 

"That's all?"

"Just the beginning," he smiled.

"You read?" 

"I can, but I don't too much." answered James.

"Music?"

"Rock. Almost anything besides Rap-Metal. I hate Rap-Metal," he shook his head.

"I like Badly Drawn Boy. Have you heard of them back in the States?"

"No. What's you're favorite ice-cream flavor?"

"Moose Tracks. How about you?" she asked, enjoying the conversation immensely.

"Mint Chip. Definitely Mint Chip," he told her. He memorized her favorite ice cream for future use.

"That's good too," she agreed.

"What was you're favorite subject in school?"

"I loved everything."      

"I wasn't a very good student, but I loved Potions and Charms," James told her.

"Were you good at Potions?"

"Yeah. I enjoyed it a lot." He let his chair fall forward and set his empty butterbeer bottle on the table. He got up to get two more.

"I liked Transfiguration," Hermione admitted.

"Too complicated for me," he admitted.

"Did you have a lot of problems?" she asked.

"Not really. I was just too lazy to enjoy something like that. Charms was much better. I liked blowing things up," He leaned back in his chair again and took a drink of butterbeer.

"It was fun. Did you like Divination?" she asked, hoping the answer was no.

"Didn't even take it. I took Muggle studies instead."

"Did you like it?"

"My mom didn't let me use anything magical until I was ten. It was a real easy A."

"Are you hungry?" she asked. She had missed lunch and wanted something to hold her until dinner.

"Kind of. I'll make something." He hopped up and walked over to the stove.

"No, it's okay. We can have sandwiches," she protested even though she really wanted him to cook something else. The eggs that morning had been fantastic.

"No, it's okay. I'll make pasta." He filled a large pan with water and began cutting up something from the fridge.

"If you really want to," she conceded. "Do you cook a lot?" 

"Yeah. Everyone seems to like my cooking." He threw some kind of pasta in to the pot of boiling water.

"What's your best recipe?" 

"I'm not sure. I make a lot of pies." He threw some sort of onion into a large sauce. He sure was making a lot.

"What's your best kind?"

"Either apple or cherry," He began draining the pasta. Hermione was sure he must have used magic for the pasta to be done that quickly.

"I can't cook too well, but I like home cooking," she began, wondering what he was making in the saucepan 

"It's like potion making. More of an art than a skill," James began throwing ingredients into the saucepan seemingly at random.

"What are you making?" she asked him.

"Just a quick pasta sauce. Nothing fancy." He added in two cans of tomato paste.

"It smells good."

"Thanks." James threw some diced garlic into the pan.

"Something smells delicious," Ginny said, stepping into the kitchen with damp hair.

"Pasta," Hermione pointed to James.

"It smells really good." Ginny sat next to Hermione.

"Thanks," James repeated. He took three plates down and levitated them to the table. He mixed the sauce and the pasta together and then he brought that over to the table with some forks "Dig in."

***

A\N: Another chapter. Another day. Please review.

Special thanks to anyone who reviewed and extra special thanks to Anna Black.


	3. SpellOTape and Simple Bar Fights

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter besides my own personal copies of the books. So just read this and move on.

Chapter Three:

Spell-O-Tape and Simple Bar Fights

***

Harry stepped out into the warm afternoon sun. He'd left pretty quickly and hadn't had much sleep. He had a tryout for the Cannons two days after his birthday, and he'd completely forgotten about getting measured for his Quidditch robes.

He had a lot on his mind. James sudden appearance was the biggest. Why was he not told about him? Why did Dumbledore just send James to him with just a short note? It was a shocking thing to happen to him. Now all he needed was a long lost sister to completely wreck his mental well being, or what little of it existed.

He felt bad. He had known Sirius and his own son hadn't. James's mom had hid James from Sirius too. James was so much like Sirius except he had an American accent and some weird mannerisms. Harry was almost positive James's Patronus would be an enormous dog. 

Remus had said that seeing the two of them together was like seeing Sirius and James alive again. Remus had told them some pretty funny stories that morning. A lot he'd never heard before. He had no idea that both Sirius and his father had been able to belly dance. James was amusing, and Harry liked him at once. He was like a slightly drunken version of Sirius. He had never expected someone to pull a gag like that on Hermione and live to suffer the consequences.

As Harry got ready to Apparate home, he once again wondered what life would be like had his parents lived.

***  
  


James Remus Peter Delacour-Black sat down and began chewing his pasta. The sauce was okay. He should have used more oregano. He was glad he had made so much since the smell of food had managed to attract Remus, Tonks, Ron, Lavender, and Ginny. They had all showed up in such quick succession that it was scary. The only one he minded was Lavender. She was blathering on about something unimportant, and it was starting to grate on him. Any second now, he was gonna snap and take her out.

"So you lived in America?" Tonks said, looking at him.

"Hmm?" he had missed the question.

"She asked you about America," Hermione told him.

"Oh yeah. Nice place. Kind of fun," he answered, slightly distracted still.

"James, be polite," Hermione ordered him.

"Yes, Mistress." He bowed his head slightly, making everyone smile.

"Don't do that. It's too much like a house-elf," she said disdainfully. James had noticed she seemed partial to house-elves. He'd have to ask about that later. Until then he could have some fun.

"Yes, Mistress," he said with an exaggerated bow and a squeaky voice.

"I'm serious, James." She seemed to be, but that was no reason not to push it.

"Of course, Mistress," James made his voice as squeaky as possible. Remus had a huge smile on his face, and everyone else was either smiling or laughing.

"I will slap you again if you do not shut-up," she growled in a low, threatening voice that James had heard his mother use only once, and that had been before his mother had locked him in his room for a week.

"Okay. I'm sorry. Please don't hit me again." He really didn't want another slap.

"Again?" Ron asked.

"James tried to follow her into the bathroom, and she slapped him," Ginny explained.

"That's mean! You shouldn't have slapped him!" Lavender scolded Hermione.

"It was my fault," James told her before anyone had a chance to reply. "I was joking around, and she slapped me. It was fun anyway. I like the abuse." Damned if someone like Lavender was going to tell off Hermione. She would have to go. He hated being sneaky, but he had a natural disposition for it, and he could get rid of her easily.

"When's Harry going to be back?" Tonks asked, changing the subject.

"Now," Harry said, stepping into the kitchen. "What's that delightful smell?" 

***

After the early makeshift dinner, everyone had decided to go into the den. Well, except for Lavender and Ron. They had gone to Lavender's. James was very grateful. Ron was cool, but another minute with Lavender and he was going to kill someone.

James sipped his butterbeer and listened to the story Remus was telling about some poor dude called Snape and a large roll of Spell-o-tape. It was rather funny actually. He watched Tonks looking at Remus. They would make a nice couple. Ginny was leaning against Harry. They looked really cute together. Hermione had sat across the room from him in an armchair she had conjured. He wondered about her. She had said she'd consider going out with him. He really wanted to go out with her. She was just the type of girl he could picture himself with. 

***

Hermione glanced over at James. He had been watching her a second or two ago. Now he was watching Remus again. She disapproved of what they had done to Snape but only a little. It was overall a funny story. She watched James some more. Tomorrow she would agree to going out with him unless he did the house-elf thing again. If he did that, he would have to wait another day. It really bothered her. He was cute, but some things could not be tolerated. 

***

Ginny watched all the glancing going on between those two. They would be a cute couple together. She watched Remus tell the story. Tonks was watching Remus too, but she was looking like she wanted more than just to hear an amusing story about taping people to things.

Ginny put her head on Harry's lap and considered ways to get the two couples together.

***

Harry listened to the story with tears in his eyes, he was laughing so hard. Apparently one day Snape had unjustly jinxed his father and Remus. Sirius had followed Snape into an empty classroom and then Spell-o-taped him to a blackboard. Remus told the story masterfully. It was a beautiful thing. If he had just heard the story a couple of years ago, Malfoy would have suffered a similar fate.

***

Tonks watched Remus with rapt attention. He was just the guy she wanted. Dignified but funny, cute but not too cute, and most importantly, he was unique.

***

Remus tried to keep his mind on the story even though he could tell only Harry was listening.  Tonks was distracting. She wasn't his type and a couple of years too young, but he wanted to ask her out anyway.

***

Hermione stacked the plates. Some how she had got stuck cleaning the dishes. James and Harry were out "shopping" even though she specifically heard the words, "Good," "Bar," and "Broomsticks," whispered as they left. Remus and Tonks had gone out somewhere on their own. She waved her wand, and the stacked plates flew directly into the cupboard.

"We should have gone with them," Ginny declared from the table.

"They went to a bar, you know?" Hermione sat next to Ginny.

"That's why I want to go," she pouted. 

"I don't care much for bars," Hermione said, even though she would have gone just to spend time with James.

"I don't either, but Harry shouldn't have left me. He's sleeping alone until his birthday," Ginny swore. Hermione knew she was too nice to follow through with it, but it was funny nonetheless.

Just then they heard the front door open. A few seconds later, Harry and James limped inside.

"Well that was…" Ginny stopped, seeing the relatively beat up faces of the two. "What the hell happened?" she yelled. 

"Just a simple bar fight." James smiled through busted lips.

"A simple bar fight," Harry said incredulously throwing, his hands up and sitting at the table on the opposite side of the girls.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"Someone called Harry a Mudblood-loving-fool," James said.

"You shouldn't have punched him," Harry told him. Ginny, a healing arts major, was already healing his face. "It's best to ignore those assholes."

"Yeah, but the risk is worth the reward." James grinned, and his lips began bleeding again.

"What reward? A busted face? A large group of missing teeth? Are you stupid?" Hermione yelled as James sat next to her.

"No guts, no glory," he stated simply.

"Stupid prat," retorted Hermione.

"From what I hear you did plenty of stupid things in school." James leaned back until his chairs front legs were no longer touching the ground.

"For the greater good, not a punch in the face." She was definitely not going to date someone this stupid.

"I was defending Harry's integrity," James said.

"James, not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but leave me out of this," Harry said, fully healed and apparently worried about receiving new injuries from Hermione.

"Sure," James said.

"Do you just go out _looking for fights?" Hermione asked._

"Not often," James said, flinching slightly as Ginny began healing his face.

"Hermione, everyone knows that Harry has a knack for attracting trouble. Let James off. It wasn't his fault," Ginny told her healing James's lips.

"Yeb lbs magg ott," James muttered, unintelligibly cause his lips were healing.

"What?" Hermione missed what he said.

James opened his mouth, but Harry, who apparently understood what James said, covered his mouth with his hand.

"He said he's sorry," Harry told her.            

"Yep. That's what I said. And I'm sorry I argued with you," James truly seemed sorry suddenly.

"I'm going upstairs," Hermione walked around the table and left.

"Real smooth. Now she definitely hates me," James said as soon as she left.

"She's just pissed at you. She'll get over it," Ginny assured him.

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have even argued with her," James shook his head miserably.

"Don't worry. This is nothing compared to her rows with Viktor," Harry assured him.

"Viktor?" asked James.

"Her last boyfriend. They had terrible rows over lots of thing right before they broke it off," Ginny explained.

"Did he stay here?" James had a note of jealousy in his voice.

"Yeah, but in a different room from Hermione," Harry explained. "The thing they fought about last was that she refused to sleep with him." Harry recalled the row that had lasted for two hours and ended with Krum leaving.

"I need to apologize," James stood up. 

"Best leave it until she cools down a bit," advised Harry.

"No I should just go and apologize now." James started toward the door.

"She might hit you," Ginny warned.

"The risk is definitely worth the reward," he said after a second, and with a determined smile he walked through the kitchen door.

"Brave fool," Harry said quietly.

"I thought you were going shopping."

"Well, you see…" Harry began. He recognized that look in her eye as the one Mrs. Weasley wore when she was about to tear someone apart.

"No matter." Ginny smiled. "You can take me to Diagon Alley tomorrow. I need some new stuff." Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

***

James took a deep breath. He didn't want Hermione to be mad at him, whatever the reason. He wanted her to like him. He was obviously going to have to work hard to make this relationship happen.

He reached up to knock when the door opened. Hermione looked a bit shocked for a moment.

"I just wanted to apologize again," James said quickly.

"Apology accepted," Hermione said. "I was just coming downstairs to ask if you wanted to get some ice-cream." She had realized that yelling at him was stupid, as they had barely known each other a day. Why should she get mad because he had decided to pick a fight?

"Actually, I'm about to pass out on my feet. How about tomorrow?" He knew it wouldn't be flattering to fall asleep in his mint chip.

"Okay." She didn't want to push him to get ice-cream with her. Besides, he really did look exhausted, even though it was only seven-thirty.

"Well, later then." He backed into the room across the hall that Harry had assigned him.

"Goodnight," she smiled at him.

***

A\N: All I've done all day is write and drink a few Slurpees. I wrote two separate things today, and I'm literally exhausted. I haven't been sleeping too much lately because of lack of reviews (which his beta thinks is stupid). If you care at all for my health REVIEW.

Special thanks to the great and wonderful Anna Black. Even though she thinks I'm stupid. L


	4. Mint chip

Disclaimer: Do I look like a forty year old Scottish chick? If so, press one to be connected to a good eye doctor. Just so you know, I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter Four: 

Mint Chip

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

James Black skipped merrily down the stairs, although he hadn't had a good night's sleep he liked to skip sometimes. Today seemed like a skipping day anyway. Some dumb painting of his great-grandfather's, mothers, third cousin or something kept him up all night asking stupid questions.

He turned into the kitchen and considered throttling Harry for giving him such a crappy room then decided against it. Harry had put him across from Hermione after all.

He glanced around the kitchen. Remus was sitting next to Tonks who was reading over Remus' shoulder and sporting bubble-gum pink hair this morning. Last night it was black. James decided not to comment on it. Harry was making out with Ginny who was wearing a bathrobe initialed with HP. Hermione was absent. Ron and lavender where missing too.

"Morning!" James beamed happily around the table.

"Good morning," Remus looked up from _The Daily Prophet. He didn't care much for the paper, nor did he care for the _Quibbler_._

"Wotcher, James." 

Harry and Ginny didn't acknowledge his presence. They were too busy tasting each other's back teeth.

"How is everyone?" James asked.

"Good. Are you making breakfast?" Tonks asked.

"Probably." James wondered if she had spent the night with Remus.

"I went to the store and got eggs, bacon, and bread this morning," Harry told him.

"I was wondering when you two were coming up for air," commented Remus, flipping to the next page.

"I'll make breakfast then." James stood up.

"What are you making?" Harry asked. He decided to ignore Remus' comment.

"Eggs, bacon, and toast," James walked over to the stove. "What else would I make with eggs bacon and bread?"

"An omelet?" Ginny asked.

"Excellent," Harry said, wishing he had thought to get the stuff to make pancakes instead.

"Where's Hermione?" James asked a minute or two later as he was cracking a bunch of large eggs into a bowl.

"She hasn't come down yet," Ginny told him.

"You two aren't making out?" James looked shocked.

"What?" Harry asked.

"There was a minute of nobody saying anything," he said. "I thought it was because you two had become reattached at the lips."

"Jealous?" Ginny asked. 

"Nope." James probably was, but he wasn't going to say it. He had just opened his mouth to make a biting comment when the doorbell rang. The picture of his grandmother burst open and started screaming. 

"Bugger." Harry jumped up and ran into the entryway.

"I thought it was broken," James said confused.

"It was. I did it," Remus said, following Harry along with James, Ginny, and Tonks. As they made it into the entryway, James and Tonks went over to help with the portrait who was now calling everyone in the room "Accursed Mudblood loving fools!" Ginny answered the door.

"Percy?" James heard. The rest of the conversation was drowned out by his lovely grandmother's sentimental ramblings.

"TRAITORS TO THE BLACK NAME!" she screeched. "ACCURSED SPAWN! BLASPHAMOUS HALF-BREEDS!" 

"Finally," Harry sighed as they closed the curtains.

"If we could teach her to sing elevator music, that wouldn't be half bad," James joked.

Ginny closed the door.

"Who was it?" James asked.

"My older brother Percy. He fixed the doorbell for us." She handed Remus an envelope. "Why?" 

"I'm about to chase him down with something heavy." James walked to the door.

"Take a number," Ginny said.

"Damn." James went straight to the kitchen door instead. Everyone followed.

"Why was he here?" Harry asked a second or two later, eyeing the envelope in Remus' hands.

"Registration time," said Remus bitterly. He threw the envelope across the room and blasted it with his wand as it hit the wall.

"Registration for what?" James asked throwing some bacon into the pan. Everything went still. Apparently no one had told him Remus was a werewolf.

James looked at everyone. "What did I say?"

Remus finally said, "I'm a werewolf." He was Sirius's son, but Remus wasn't sure what to expect. Loads of people were frightened by werewolves. Especially Dolores Umbridge who'd promoted the registration law two years previously.

"Cool." James flipped the bacon. "When's the next full moon?" he asked.

"Three days," Remus said looking at his watch half shocked by James seemingly nonchalant attitude. "Why?" 

"Can I have some hair clippings?" he asked.

"Why?" Remus knew of several poisons involving werewolf hair.

"I wanted some for a potion." James wondered what exactly it would take to make a Wolfsbane potion. He'd heard of it, but it sounded rather hard to make.

"Okay," he said slowly. He could easily collect some from the basement after the full moon.

"Don't you make potions?" Ginny asked him. "Maybe you could make some Wolfsbane for Remus."

"I'd need a recipe, the ingredients, and a place to brew." He liked the idea of doing something like this for his father's old friend.

"I wouldn't put you through the trouble-" Remus started, but James cut him off.

"I want to. It sounds fun." He levitated all the food to the table. "Do you have a recipe?"

"It's in my room. Are you sure you want to do this?" 

"Positive." It wasn't often James got the chance to try his hand at complicated potions. He hated doing hard stuff but loved doing potions like this.

"I'll get the stuff." Remus left, and they heard him go upstairs. James carried over a stack of plates and silverware.

"It's really nice of you to make that for him," Tonks told James.

"What's your usual fee? I'll pay it," Harry offered, reaching for his moneybag.

"Forget it. I'm ecstatic to try a potion this complicated," James assured him. "Plus it's nice to be of some use." He began making a plate since it seemed no one else was.

"Here," Remus tossed a large book and a pouch of gold in front of him a couple of minutes later. "Page six-fourteen to six-twenty two. The ingredients are expensive, and you'll need this to get some of the more restricted ones." Remus handed him a werewolf registration card.

"Ohhh…" James's eyes grew wide.

"Some of the things you'll need are rather hard to come by," Remus told him. "That should allow you to get them as long as you explain what you're making… Why are you smiling like that?" Remus knew that smile. He had seen it every time Sirius was about to do something stupid.

"I can buy a lot of stuff with this thing," James smiled.

"It has a class two clearance," Remus said. It was just for werewolves who wanted to make wolfsbane potion. He had tried to make it after he had resigned as a teacher but hadn't been able to make it effectively.

"I'm an Auror, so before you tell me what you're gonna make just remember that," Tonks told him. She knew it was illegal for James to have possession of that card but that could be overlooked. If he was planning to make Veritaserum or Polyjuice, that was a totally different story.  She wouldn't bust him, but she would at least take the card.

"Right," he opened the book. His eyes went wide and he became engrossed in the potion.

"I hope he doesn't do anything stupid," Remus said quietly to Tonks.

"Well, he's like Sirius right? What would Sirius do?" Tonks whispered back.

Remus' eyes went wide. "He would probably make a Polyjuice Potion, transform himself into Snape, and then go commit several felonies," Remus said quite seriously.

"Really?"

"Well, maybe not felonies, but he'd dress up like a cheerleader or something." Remus ate some eggs.

"That would be great," Harry smiled. Remus hadn't realized he was listening.

"Damn it all," James said shaking his head.

"What?" Harry asked.

"I don't know the Homorphus charm," he shook his head.

"I do," Hermione said stepping through the door with wet hair. "What for?"

James began explaining. "It needs to be done on the potion as I throw in the Wolfsbane," he finished.

"I'll do it. It's really a simple charm," she told him.

"Tonight I'll need your help then." He closed the book. "So how about that ice cream?" He smiled.

"Okay. We can go to Diagon Alley after breakfast." She was impressed that he'd volunteer to brew such a difficult potion.

"I have to shower anyway," he got up. "I'll be back in a minute." He left quickly.

"Hermione," Remus said after a second. "Do me a favor. I gave James my werewolf registration card. Can you make sure he doesn't get anything that could be made into something dangerous? I trust him a lot considering how long I've known him, but he's a tad bit reckless."

"Okay. I'll make sure he only gets what's on the list," she said, opening the book and summoning some parchment and a quill. She always wanted to make this potion, but it was so complicated she was afraid to get everyone's hopes up and not be able to do it. James was awfully cocky about this.

"Good," Remus couldn't help trusting someone that much like Sirius, but being the sensible sort he was, he couldn't pretend something bad wasn't going to happen because of this.

"So you guys have to go to Diagon Alley too?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah. Why are you going?" Hermione asked.

"Harry's making up for trying to sneak out to a bar and getting beat up," Ginny explained.

"How?" Tonks asked.

"We're going shopping." 

"Nnnnn," Harry groaned. 

"See. He'll enjoy it." Ginny smiled again rubbing the back of Harry's head. Harry shifted his head since his glasses were slicing into his nose.

"I'm back." James leaped through the door smiling.

"That was fast," Hermione said. James was in a fresh set of clothes. He had his hair pulled back in a ponytail with just the bangs loose which were pulled into two bunches at the front. Hermione liked his hair like that.

"I'm learned some skills in my dorm. One shower. Ten boys. Thirty minutes," he shook his head. "Bad logistics."

"Yeah," Harry agreed.

"We need to shower. Then we can go," Ginny said, standing and tugging Harry's arm.

"I already showered," Harry protested.

"You get to wash my back." He brightened considerably.

++++++++++++++++++++++

"Ready?" James asked. Harry, Ginny and Hermione were standing in the entry hall next to him.

"Yep," Ginny smiled. 

"Yeah." Hermione said. She was looking forward to helping James with that potion.

"Harry?" James asked. He seemed down.

"Yeah," he answered half-heartedly.

"Ladies first," James said. Hermione waved as the girls apparated.

"What's up?" James asked Harry.

"She wasn't joking," Harry said.

"Huh?" James wondered what the hell he was talking about.

"She only let me wash her back," he said, shaking his head. "I guess she's still mad." He looked at James who was snickering with silent mirth. "You're a real prat you know that?" Harry asked as he apparated.

A minute or two later James apparated himself.

He appeared next to Harry in the Leaky Cauldron. Right on top of George of course. Nothing ever worked out for James.

"Nice to meet you. George Weasley," George smiled.

"Hi. James Black." James stood up and brushed himself off.

"I heard about you," Fred said as he helped George up.

"I guess word travels fast." James smiled. He noticed that everyone in the bar was whispering and pointing. He listened carefully.

"All I heard was he was living in hiding in Spain," one guy was saying.

"No it was France," another said.

"Naw it was Canada," a third one insisted.

"America," A big guy with a pipe said.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, his mom's French though. Part veela."

"Can't be. Why would a veela go for that Black wastrel?"

"Kaleb think for once. Pretty girls are always attracted to dark wizards."

"Seriously? I always that Black was a prat betraying the Potters like that."

James was shaking with silent rage by this time. He vaguely noticed that the twins were dragging him and Harry out the back door. He and Harry were putting up an excellent resistance though. Most of the bar was staring by the time they had successfully pulled them out.

"Let me go," James growled.

"Calm down first," George ordered.

"I'm calm." James stopped struggling.

"Okay," George let him go.

"I'm calm," James repeated, but more to himself this time. Harry had stopped struggling too.

"I can't believe assholes like that refuse to believe Good Old Sirius was innocent," Fred shook his head in disgust. James darted for the door. George grabbed him.

"Calm down. It's not worth a stay in Azkaban just to kill them," Fred assured him.

"Yeah. They're just a group of assholes," Harry told him removing his wand from the waistband holster he carried it in. Fred watched the wand carefully to make sure he didn't aim it in the leaky cauldron.

"Assholes tend to travel in packs," Fred told him.

"I know." James watched as Harry tapped the correct brick with his wand. "Where's Hermione?" 

"At Florean's," Fred told them as they started down the alley. "They made us stand there as messengers."

"Under threat of Bat Bogey." George cringed.

"Scary," Fred agreed.

"Hey, the apothecary!" exclaimed James as he started towards it, but Harry caught his shoulder.

"Hermione has the list," he told him.

"Damn," James cursed.

"What list?" Fred asked.

Harry explained as they continued toward Florean's.

"Cool," George said once he finished.

"You know a lot about potions?" asked Fred.

"A bit," James told him modestly.

"How about poisons?"  George asked him as they turned into Florean's patio area.

"A bit."

"We'll have to talk later. We're trying to improve the Skiving Snackboxes," Fred told him.

"We could use someone who could help out," George added.

"Think about it," Fred told him as they walked off down the street. He pulled out his card and pressed it into James's hand.

"Interesting people," James commented, watching them go.

"Yeah. There's the girls." Harry pointed.

"Good," James walked toward them. Hermione and Ginny were sitting at a shady table. 

"Hello," James sat down in the chair next to Hermione. Harry kissed Ginny hello as they sat down. He had apparently forgiven her.

"So what do you want to do first?" Hermione asked.

"Let's go to the apothecary," James said quickly.

"Harry and I need to go to Madam Malkin's," Ginny said. 

"Why don't we all meet back here and have ice cream in an hour?" Hermione suggested.

"Okay," Harry agreed.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"I had no idea it was the same Weasleys as in Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes! Amazing. Nice of Harry to mention it," James said to Hermione as they walked to the apothecary. "I just realized it after they had to keep me from beating the crap out of some assholes."

Hermione disapproved of his temper and his language but had to admit his embarrassment at meeting the twins was cute.

"I couldn't believe it! I used all of their stuff in my last year at school. Brilliant pranks…" James shook his head.

"Do they even sell in America?" Hermione asked.

"At the Institute," he explained as they walked into the apothecary.

"Institute?" she asked.

"South Salem Wizarding Institute," he explained.

"Oh," she pulled a bottle of murtlap essence off the shelf.

"Do we need any boomslang skin?" James picked up a jar and peered at it.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"So we got everything?" James asked, sorting through the bags forty-five minutes later. They had finished shopping and had gone back to Florean's for ice cream.

"Yeah." Hermione scanned the list as she licked her Moose Tracks cone. She had managed to keep him from buying everything besides Jobberknoll feathers. When they were at the checkout she realized that they had somehow snuck back into the basket. She would let it go. It was only one little thing.

"Good," James said, taking a bite of his mint chip ice cream He had opted for a quart instead of a cone.

"Do you have a big enough cauldron?" Hermione asked him. Their chairs were really close together.

"There should be one somewhere at Number Twelve," James said.

"There might be one in the basement." She knew there was one in the attic where Harry kept Kreacher. She didn't want him to keep Kreacher there, but she couldn't make him stop. She tried to picture James meeting Kreacher and not killing him, but she doubted it was possible.

"I'll ask Harry," James said, licking his spoon. He clearly enjoyed his ice cream.

"I wonder how he and Ginny are getting along…" Hermione mumbled. Ginny had told her all about only letting Harry wash her back.

"Did Ginny tell you what she did?" He leaned back in his chair dangerously. Hermione decided not to say anything.

"The shower thing? Yeah." Hermione was surprised. James seemed immensely amused by it. "You and Harry are getting along nicely," she commented.

"He's a nice guy," James smiled. "I didn't expect him to be like that."

"What did you expect him to be like?" Hermione asked. 

"I don't know. When I was fourteen, I hated him." James looked at the sky. "I hated him so much for knowing my dad when I didn't, but I got over it."

"How?" She was a little bit worried. They didn't know anything about James really.

"A friend hit me in the head with a dead runespoor," he explained.

"What?" She was positive he hadn't said that.

"This good friend of mine told me I was being an asshole. He then proceeded to knock me unconscious with this runespoor that had just killed itself." He grinned fondly at the memory.

"You had a peculiar childhood," she said with a smile. Her fears about him being a psychotic killer faded.

"I know," he said as he twisted his earring.

"That's a strange earring," said Hermione.

"It's a snidget eye," he explained letting his chair legs fall.

"Wow. Those are _really _illegal." She knew that the snidget eyes had been used in jewelry sometimes, but she didn't think she would ever see one. Since it was made illegal to hunt snidgets, the jewelry was pretty rare.

"Yeah. I got it from my mom," he said self-consciously.

"Why do you wear it?"

"Luck."

"Does it work?" 

"I found you." He was looking in her eyes.

"Is that lucky?" she asked, leaning slightly closer to him.

"Best luck I ever had."

"Is that so?" She could smell his breath, which smelled nicely like mint and chocolate.

"Very much so." His lips touched hers, and she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his. It was a nice kiss. James had nice smelling breath and tasty lips so that was a good thing. He worried about his breath being bad constantly. Her lips tasted nice from the ice cream too. James found a new love for Moose Tracks. They separated a couple of seconds later, so it wasn't too long a kiss, but long kisses were messy, so that was good. It made quite an impression on both of them. As they pulled apart, James looked away and turned a lovely shade of red. Hermione did exactly the same. Both were in post-kiss panic.

"What's going on here?" Ginny asked. Both she and Harry had been reading a sign outside of Quality Quidditch Supplies and had missed the kiss as they walked up.

"Nothing," James and Hermione said, immediately arousing suspicion.

"Nothing, eh?" Harry remembered uttering a similar nothing after his and Ginny's first kiss. "James, are you and Hermione wearing the same lipstick?"

"Huh?" James wiped his lips on his robe sleeve.

"I'm not wearing lipstick," Hermione said. It was obvious that Harry had caught on quickly.

"Oh really?" Harry feigned ignorance.

"Did you get everything?" Hermione asked. 

"Yeah. Did you?" Ginny asked, fully planning on pumping Hermione for information later.

"Yes. You ready to go?" Hermione stood up.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A\N: I seem to be getting a few reviews. I'm happy about that. Thanks to all of my fantastic reviewers. I'm glad you guy's seem to like it.


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